Lots Of Volume Needed

A nice place to log some serious mileage

Previously I wrote that high mileage alone may not enough for you to run fast. Just because Sebastian Sawe clocked over 240 km a week leading to his sub-2 hour marathon does not mean you too have to clock huge distances to run fast. 

So this post is for serious runners. For runners who want and can log long distances. Runners who want to run fast and are prepared to spend lots of time running. The recommendations will not help weekend warriors who just want to complete a race or fitness influencers to quote this to their followers.

Here is what a comprehensive analysis of the training intensity distribution (TID) across runners from different performance levels looks like. Researchers looked at different training sessions from 16 weeks before 151,813 marathons (yes you read correctly), done by 119,452 runners.

TID was measured using a 3 zone approach (Z1, Z2 and Z3) where critical speed is defined the boundary between Z2 and Z3. Note that this IS different from the Zone 1-5 runners talk about. The Zone 2 most runners talk about is Z1 here and Z3 here is Zone 5 on that scale.

The transition between Z1 and Z2 was assumed to occur at 82.3 percent of critical speed. Critical speed is the maximum running speed you can maintain for 30 to 60 minutes without fatiguing rapidly. It is strongly correlated to your lactate threshold.The training characteristics and TID were reported based on the runners' marathon finish time.

Results show that training mileage was 45.1 ± 26.4 km each week. The fastest runners in the study group (marathon finishing time between 120-150 mins) ran greater than 3 times more volume than slower runners.They did not run fast often.

The amount of time spent training in Z2 and Z3 remained relatively stable across all performance levels, but the proportion of training time spent in  was progressively higher in faster runners.

More than 80 percent of the runners with faster marathon times had a pyramidal approach where the volume of training (mileage) decreases as intensity increases. Visually it forms a pyramid pictured below. A big base of easy Z1 running, a smaller middle section of moderate effort and a tiny peak of high intensity work. 

With regards to total mileage that the faster runners covered, the more time they spent in Z1 (really easy pace), the faster their marathon finish time (p < 0.01 - highly siginificant statistical finding, less than 1 percent chance this happened by coincidence). Moreover, R² ≥ 0.9, meaning over 90 percent of the variance in marathon finish times can be explained by looking at how much total volume the runner did and how much of it was in Z1.

The study also found that the more time a runner spent training at Z2 or Z3 intensities, the slower their marathon finish time. p < 0.01 and R² ≥ 0.85, at least 85 percent of the variance in slower finish times can be predicted by an over reliance on Z2 and Z3 training.

Focusing too much on hard and moderate efforts usually backfires. Why? Running too 'fast' on easy days and not hard enough on hard days means you are in the "grey zone". Not easy enough to get the aerobic adaptations needed and not hard enough to get the benefits of the high quality intervals.

Spending too much time in Z2 (moderately hard) causes higher fatigue levels without the beneficial effects of Z1 nor the high end fitness gains of Z3. 

The fastest runners in this study achieved their better times by increasing training volume mainly in Z1. They also ran less when they incorporated high intensity runs to allow for recovery. 

Is that true for all distances? What about a 5km or 10 km race? Will you still need to run lots of easy Z1 miles. If you want to simply finish the race, no. But if you consider that even a mile race of 5 km race is predominantly aerobic (pictured above) then you will understand why a large volume is needed to build a large base. 

Slower means more sustainable over time, you will not get injured so easily and hence more adaptation over time. That's how you will get stronger. 

Find more ways to increase your training volume with long easy runs. True aerobic developmnent is only possible from accumulating volume.  It allows you to recover and handle the key sessions. You cannot HIIT your way to the top. If you cannot get your hours in then it would be a lot more difficult to run faster.

Reference

Muniz-Pumares D, Hunter B, Meyler S et al (2025). The Training Insity Distribution Of Marathon Runners Across Performance Levels. Sports Med 55: 1023-1035. DOI: 10.1007/s40279-024-02137-7

Sub 2 Hour Marathon

Back in 2017, renowned sports scientist Dr Ross Tucker wrote that a sub 2 hour marathon was unlikely to occur for generations. Then Nike introduced the Breaking 2 project which resulted in Eliud Kipchoge running under 2 hours albeit in a paced setting, not in an official race. 

The 2 hour barrier was finally broken last week at the London marathon when winner Sabastian Sawe and runners-up Yomif Kejelcha achieved the breakthrough, the latter running only his first marathon.

The podium

Sawe beat the previous world record by 65 seconds, finishing in 1:59:30 hrs. He ran an amazing negative split, 60:29 for the first half and the next half in 59:01 min. Kejelcha finished 2nd in 1:59:41 hours. The race was so fast that third place finisher Jacob Kiplimo also broke the previous world record (set in 2023) by 7 seconds. He clocked 2:00:28 hrs.

What lead to the breakthrough? Perhaps due to a "perfect storm" or convergence of many of the following factors. 

Sawe's team said he was running in excess of 200 km a week in the 6 weeks leading up to London, with a maximum of 241 km (150 miles). The volume of his training runs is likely an important factor for him to break 2 hours. Not many elite runners can tolerate that sort of volume, especially when most of it is done at low intensity (or Zone 1). High training volume done at relatively low intensity (Zone 1) is associated in faster marathon performances (Muniz-Pumarez et al, 2024).

Sawe's 5 km splits from 30 km onwards were superb. 30-35 km : 13:54 min, 35-40 km : 13:42 min. His final 2.2 km was 5:51 min. His 24th mile was 4:12 min - the fastest single mile ever run in a marathon. As the finishing line beckoned, he was still accelerating. No way he could have done this if he was not fueling well.

Sawe's nutrition was exceptional. I'm not plugging names here, in fact I've not even tried their products, but Sawe is a Maurten athlete. Elite athletes train their gut take up to 120 grams of carbs while competing without GI distress. The previous recommendation was 60 grams per hour previously. Sawe's reported intake was 115 grams an hour. Maurten's research team was with Sawe in Kenya for 32 days across 6 trips between last year and this April to train his gut to absorb that amount. 

Please note that 120 grams of carbs are NOT recommended for the recreational athlete. That is probably why cycling races and marathons are getting faster since there is no depletion in carbohydrate levels.

Sawe also used sodium bicarbonate (also from Maurten) to buffer his lactic acid build up during the race. He took the sodium bicarbonate early since it peaks in the bloodstream  roughly 60-90 minutes after ingestion so the timing of 2 + hours before the race would put peak buffering capacity at the start.

What about his shoes? Adidas says those were the fastest and lightest super shoes ever made. Actually, Adidas had a great day as 4 of the top 5 men were wearing the same Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3. It weighs 97 grams (for men's size 9), 30 percent lighter than its predecessor with a stack height of 39 mm (below the 40 mm limit by World Athletics). 

The Lightstrike Pro foam used is 50 percent lighter than the previous version, along with the carbon plate. Research suggests that the foam and carbon plate can affect the "spring like" bounce of the body as the foot strikes and leaves the ground. The shoes help to store and release energy and acts like the runner is pushing off a springboard so less energy is needed for the run.

London is considered a relatively fast course (though not as fast as Berlin) and the weather conditions was between 13-17 degrees Celsius, close to ideal.

There you have it, exceptional athlete physiology, high mileage training without injury, efficient biomechanics, super shoes , optimized fueling and favorable conditions. The recipe for success for running marathons.

Reference

Muniz-Pumares D, Hunter B, Meyler S et al (2025). The Training Intensity Distribution Of Marathon Runnersd Across Performance Levels. Sports Med. 55: 1023-1035. DOI: 10.1007/s40279-024-02137-7